Space Pioneer 1 - 4. Chapter 4

Lest and Jeff walked down a corridor and entered a hall. Jeff looked around. The place looked much like an airport terminal on Earth. A few men were moving about, spaceport staff apparently. They wore black boots and blue overalls and they all looked much like Daglons or humans, only their skin was somewhat grayish. Jeff wondered if all aliens looked more or less alike. He was genuinely surprised.

Lest moved towards a counter and Jeff followed him. The man behind the counter turned to them. He was bald, his skin was gray, and his eyes were of a dark brown. Jeff gazed at the alien man until the spaceport employee gave him a questioning look. Jeff turned his eyes away. Lest intervened and addressed the man. He spoke at some length with him.

"I picked him up in space, you know," Lest explained. "He needs a neural implant. I want a registered one and an expert doctor working on him. You see, I need to make this somewhat official."

The man behind the counter studied Jeff and Jeff gazed back at him. Lest pushed an item across the counter. To Jeff it looked like a credit card. The man glanced at it, seized it and put it into a pocket of his overall. He pointed at the door behind the counter, then turned away and consulted a display. He had apparently lost interest in them. Lest walked behind the counter and opened the door. Jeff realized that the captain was no stranger on Cyrus. He seemed to know exactly how to get things done. Jeff followed Lest and they entered the room.

A small being was sitting at a console, typing rapidly on a keyboard. It stopped and looked up when Lest addressed it. Jeff gazed at the alien being. It reminded him of a puppet from the Muppet Show. Jeff re-evaluated his earlier judgment. His first impression was wrong. Some aliens apparently didn’t look human at all. Lest explained what he wanted. The small alien looked at Jeff and motioned with a tiny hand.

"This is Geldor," Lest said to Jeff. "He will create your official identity. He must upload the language database to his computer so that he can talk with you. The engineers on my ship saved the data to a device that I have taken along. Jeff, now you will have the opportunity to test the language module and the data you have refined."

Lest handed the device to the alien. Geldor plugged it to his console and pressed a button.

"This will only take half an hour, if you fully cooperate, that is," he said.

"What do you want me to do?" Jeff asked.

"Sit down here and answer my questions," Geldor replied.

"I see that communication is not a problem," Lest said. "I’ll be back in time, Jeff. Just do what Geldor wants you to do. He will also upload your language to the Alliance database. Once you have your implant, you can directly connect with the database and further refine the data."

He turned to Geldor. "Make him Daglon," he said.

Jeff looked at Lest in surprise, but the captain just gave him an encouraging nod and then left the room. Jeff turned his eyes to the alien.

"Are you new to the space community or just in need of an identity change?" Geldor asked.

"I’m a newbie," Jeff replied.

"This makes it a lot easier. I need not find and delete your traces in the system. Wait a minute," Geldor said. He eyed Jeff curiously, then turned back to his console. "Daglon, he said. Okay. I’ll ask you questions and you will reply please, preferably a one word reply only."

"All right," Jeff said, shifting in his chair and wondering what exactly the alien was going to do.

Geldor started his inquiry. He wanted to know Jeff’s name, age, gender and asked at least twenty more questions. Jeff replied truthfully. Finally, Geldor looked up and smirked.

"I’ve created a whole new identity for you," he said. "Now wait a minute. I’ll have the chip produced."

There was a beep. Geldor disappeared under his desk, but reappeared a second later with a tiny chip in his hand.

"Your index finger, please," he said.

Jeff reached out his hand. Geldor took an instrument that looked like a vaccination gun. He put the chip into the gun and shot the chip under Jeff’s skin. It was done in a second and didn’t hurt.

"Let’s test it," Geldor said. He motioned to a desk with several devices. "These are common control devices. Put your index finger on the spots that are marked red. One device after the other, please."

Jeff did what Geldor had told him.

"Everything’s fine," Geldor said. "You should get in and out of most spaceports without any difficulties. Just remember your replies. Someone might want to hear them again."

The door opened and Lest entered.

"We’re done," Geldor said. "Do you want to transfer the credits, Captain Lest?"

"I think I must," Lest replied. "Many thanks, Geldor."

Geldor handed a small box to him, a payment device. Lest looked at the display and raised an eyebrow at the price.

"I must go with the market," Geldor said with a shrug.

Lest pressed the button. Geldor seized the box and handed Lest the device with the language data. He nodded at them, turned back to his console and leaned forward until his forehead touched the screen. Lest motioned to Jeff to follow him. They left the room.

"Thank you, Captain Lest," Jeff said. "I feel I’m obliged to you."

Lest made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Don’t bother. Just don’t cut off your index finger," he said. "Once you need to get rid of your former identity, visit someone like Geldor. Or help yourself. There are ways to re-program the chip."

"Do you speak from experience?" Jeff asked.

Lest cast him a glance. "The space business can be hard at times. I’ll tell you more some other day. I’ll take you to the medical center now. I have everything arranged already. I’ll come back and get you the day after tomorrow. I hope I will have made a profitable deal by then. If everything works out well, we’ll be back in space in two days."

"I had hoped to see more of this alien world," Jeff said.

"This is not a good place to begin with," Lest said. "Trust me, there are more beautiful places in space. Unfortunately, I need to visit places like Cyrus. It’s one big complex. The medical center is on the sixth floor. We need to take the elevator."

The corridors were long, the air stale and smelly. People hurried up and down the hallways. Jeff didn’t have the time to take a closer look at the aliens, because Lest walked fast and Jeff needed to hurry after him. They finally arrived on the sixth floor. Lest opened a door and they entered the medical center. Lest went to the reception. A young woman with long red hair and full red lips welcomed them.

"This is Cari. She’s a trained nurse," Lest said. "I’ve told her that your language was uploaded earlier, so communication should not be a problem. Just follow her to the waiting room." Lest patted Jeff’s shoulder. "I’ll be back in two days. Everything will work out well. Good luck, Jeff," he said.

Jeff nodded. "All right. I will see you in two days, captain," he said.

Cari interrupted them. She seized Jeff’s hand and pulled him along. Jeff cast another look at Lest before he entered the waiting room. Lest stood idly in the hall for a while until people cast him questioning looks. He turned around abruptly and stepped out into the corridor

***

"The implant is absolutely awesome, Lest. I can talk with everybody without difficulties," Jeff said enthusiastically when Lest came back two days later.

"This sounds great, Jeff," Lest said. A smile was playing on his lips and he was idly leaning against the wall, watching Jeff sitting on his hospital bed.

Lest straightened and a more serious expression replaced his smile when the door opened and a doctor came in.

"Did everything work out well, doctor?" Lest asked.

"No problem at all, Captain Lest. The implant works properly" the doctor replied. "I was just wondering why a spaceship crew member didn’t have a neural implant in this day and age. I also found that his physiognomy is not entirely Daglon. You know that the implants have adaptations to species. I was having doubts, but it turned out that the implant works properly."

Lest smiled at the man. "This is what is most important. I trust you don’t put down your findings in an official report," he said.

"Official reports are not standard procedure on Cyrus, as you know, Captain Lest," the doctor said. He smiled curtly. "Commander Jeff Caspar is ready to go."

"Are you?" Lest asked, turning to Jeff.

"I certainly am," Jeff said with a nod.

A couple of minutes later, they were hurrying down the corridors.

"You’re doing fine with the implant?" Lest asked while turning around a corner.

"Yes," Jeff replied. "I got it yesterday. The surgical operation was done in half an hour. I was able to communicate with everybody right after the surgery. It didn’t hurt and I don’t suffer from any side effects. I’m very impressed." He gasped. "Why are we running?"

Lest slowed down and turned his head to Jeff. "We’re in a hurry. The cargo’s already on board. We must leave as soon as possible. We have a deadline to meet."

They were entering the hangar.

"Your ship is ready to go," a man said. "Your pilot has made all arrangements."

Lest gave a nod and hurried towards the spaceship. Jeff hastened after him. They entered the ship and the hatch closed automatically. Lest motioned to Jeff to follow him. They moved through the corridors and entered the bridge.

"Where are we going?" Jeff asked.

"The Mohic Empire," Lest replied. "They settle on two planets and are currently preparing a moon for settlement. They have run out of materials. The Alliance controls the market, but the Mohic Empire is not associated with the Alliance. That’s why they order on Cyrus. However, the Mohic are strict. They won’t pay the negotiated price., if you don’t deliver in time. The Mohic Empire is far away from Cyrus. Even with the space jump drive it’s hard to cover the distance in time, but I’ll trust we will manage."

Lest sat down in the commander’s seat. "Corr, tell ground control we’re ready to leave," he said.

"Clearance for take-off," the pilot said a minute later.

Jeff settled in his seat. He meanwhile had a clearer idea of Lest’s business. The captain operated outside the law or in a gray area at least. Lest was well known on Cyrus, a shady illegal place, and he had functioning connections. Jeff thought of Geldor. The alien was clearly a hacker. Jeff wondered why the Alliance had not yet shut down the planet and he wondered what exactly the Alliance was and who were its members. What were their goals and on which side of the line were they settled? He wondered if Lest had captured the Daglon warship and had split with the Alliance. Jeff looked around on the bridge. He had so many questions, but only few answers. He turned his eyes to Lest.

The captain sat upright in the commander’s seat, a self-assured expression on his face. The man had charisma, that was for sure. Lest turned his head and their eyes met. Jeff saw something in the eyes of the captain, a gleam that sent a shiver down his spine. He wondered why Lest had not thrown him out on Cyrus, but had gotten him a Daglon identity and a neural implant instead. Lest’s lips broke into a predatory smile and then he turned his head away. Jeff was staring at the captain.

***